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Nation Dube

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Castle Lager Premier Soccer League side Hwange turned on a powerful second half performance to beat a stubborn Zim Leopards 3-1 in a Southern Region Division One league match in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Leopards almost gave Hwange a scare when they shot into the lead through a Tambudzai Ngulube strike before Courage Sibanda equalised for the coal miners ensuring they went for the break with the score line tied.

Hwange’s experience showed in the second half when they scored two goals through Mostaf Ncube and former Njube Sundowns midfielder Innocent Ndlovu to return to the coal mining town with maximum points.

The victory saw Hwange opening a four-point lead at the top of the table, taking their tally to 28 points from 11 games.

“Obviously we are happy with the win, but it’s still a long journey before the season ends. What we want is to keep on pushing, collect as many points as possible so that we achieve our goal of going back to the Premiership,” said Nation Dube, the Hwange coach.

Tsholotsho, who went into the weekend games just two points adrift of Hwange, were held to a 0-0 draw by Talen Vision and slipped into third position.

ZPC Hwange leapfrogged Tsholotsho into second following a slim 1-0 home win over visiting Mosi Rovers.

The Highlanders’ executive led by chairman Kenneth Mhlophe travelled to Dete to inspire their development side Bosso 90 to a memorable 2-0 victory against NRZ Leopards.

Brighton Makopa and Denzel Khumalo scored for Bosso 90.

The duo has been impressive for Highlanders’ developmental side and it will not be surprising to see them being promoted into the first team during the mid-season transfer window that opened on Sunday.

Rahman Gumbo’s Makomo recovered from last weekend’s 1-2 coalmining town derby defeat by Hwange to beat visiting Plumtree based Mainline 2-0.

Makomo, who have played 12 games, trail Hwange by 10 points and can reduce the gap to seven should they win their mid-week encounter against Casmyn on Thursday.

Results

Saturday: ZRP Bulawayo Province 1-1 Moto Moto, ZPC Hwange 1-0 Mosi Rovers, CIWU 1-1 Indlovu Iyanyathela, Toronto 1-2 Casmyn, Makomo 2-0 Mainline, Tsholotsho 0-0 Talen Vision, Zim Leopards 1-3 Hwange

Sunday: NRZ Leopards 0-2 Bosso 90

Table

P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Hwange    13    8    4    1    21    7    14    28
ZPC Hwange    13    6    6    1    11    4    7    24
Tsholotsho    13    6    6    1    12    6    6    24
Bosso 90    13    5    5    3    12    10    2    20
Mosi Rovers    13    6    1    6    16    14    2    19
Makomo    12    4    6    2    14    10    4    18
I. Iyanyathela    13    4    6    3    14    12    2    18
Moto Moto    13    4    5    4    10    10    0    17
CIWU    13    3    8    2    9    9    0    17
Zim Leopards    13    4    4    5    12    17    -5    16
*Talen Vision    12    3    6    3    15    11    4    15
Casmyn    12    3    4    5    6    13    -7    13
Main Line    13    3    3    7    9    14    -5    12
NRZ Leopards    13    2    4    7    6    14    -8    10
Toronto    13    0    9    4    6    13    -7    9
*ZRP Bulawayo    12    1    3    8    6    19    -13    6

*Match abandoned

@ZililoR